Description of Electoral System:

(courtesy of IFES election guide, Brazilian Constitution and Electoral Law N° 4.737)

The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 4-year term. The Federal Senate (Senado Federal) elects 81 members.* In the Chamber of Deputies (Camara dos Deputados) , 513 members are elected by proportional representation to serve 4-year terms.

* Three members from each state and federal district are elected according to the principle of majority to serve eight-year terms. One-third (27 seats) are elected after a four-year period, and two-thirds (54 seats) are elected after the next four-year period.

The 1988 Constitution and the Electoral Law regulates the electoral system and Law in Brazil. Presidential and Parliamentary elections are realized every five years.

The suffrage is direct, secret and universal (Art. 82 of the Law 4.737). Voting is considered a right and a duty. Register and voting are mandatory in citizens between 18 and 70 years. (Arts. 4-5-6 of the Law N° 4.737).

The President is elected by absolute majority. It’s possible the immediately Presidential re-election. For the election deputies is used the “electoral quotient” method, with a closed and non blocked list.  For the rest of the benches they use the “media mayor” method. The proportional system is used for the Local legislatives election (councils or regional authorities) with preferential voting and the D´Hondt method with legal barrier by electoral quotient. [1]

For the direct election of the Federal Senate, Prefects (Prefectos) or Vice-Prefect the use the majority system. For the Chamber of Deputies, Legislative Assemblies and Municipal Chambers elections are made by the proportional representation system (Art. 83-84 of the Law N°4.737).

The elections for the federal deputies, senators and supplies, president and vice-president of the Republic, governors and vice-governors and the deputies for the states are simultaneously in all the country (Art. 85 of the Law N°4.737).

The constituency for the president elections is national (all the country), for the federal and states elections the constituencies are the state, and for the municipal elections the constituency are each municipality (Art. 85-86 of the Law N° 4.737).  

The institutions of the Electoral Justice in Brazil are (Art.118 of the Constitution):

1. Supreme Electoral Court ( Tribunal Superior Electoral)
2.  Regional Electoral Court (Tribunal Regional Electoral)
3. Electoral Judges
4. Electoral Assemblies

[1] Nohlen, Dieter: “Sistemas electorales parlamentarios y presidenciales” ON, Nohlen, Dieter, Daniel Zovatto y Sonia Picado (comp.): “Tratado de derecho Electoral comparado de América Latina”. Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1998. pp. 168,173,180.

Electoral Systems Snapshot

(Courtesy of International IDEA)

*Click on links for definitions

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Most recent election

(courtesy of wikipedia)

In 2006, Brazil held general elections in two rounds. The first one occurred on October 1, in which eligible voters chose the president of the country and the governors of the 26 states and of the Federal District. They also chose all members of the Chamber of Deputies and all members of the Legislative Assemblies of the 26 states and of the Federal District, as well as one third of the Federal Senate.

DID YOU KNOW? Brazil was the first country in the world to have fully electronic elections

After no majority was secured by either presidential candidate, a second round was held on October 29 between incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his challenger, Geraldo Alckmin. In addition, a run-off occurred in 10 states where no gubernatorial candidate had achieved a majority.

Lula emerged victorious from the run-off with over 60% of the votes and secured a new four-year term.